DENVER — A man arrested on a first-degree murder charge after a Christmas Day 2020 homicide at a Denver hotel was acquitted July 14, 2023, according to court records.
Tonell Love, 38, was taken into custody in December 2020 after officers learned he had a felony warrant for aggravated domestic violence in Denver while he was loitering in the hotel lobby where police had responded to a man bleeding in a room, a heavily redacted arrest affidavit says.
About 9:15 a.m. on Christmas Day 2020, Denver Police (DPD) responded to the Hyatt Place at 440 14th St. after a hotel employee said she received a call from a hallway phone on the sixth floor from an unknown male who said she needed to send someone the room because they were injured, according to the affidavit.
Another employee had done a welfare check on the room and found a person inside who was unable to communicate verbally. That person was curled up in the fetal position near the front door and was bleeding profusely, the affidavit says.
When DPD arrived, that person was pronounced dead on the scene.
The victim was identified as Paul Norwood, 36.
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A witness told detectives they noticed a suspicious man loitering in the lobby when officers responded, the affidavit says. The man asked the front desk if anyone had found a brown or tan bag. Someone had, and the employee gave the bag to the man, later identified as Love, after he identified it as his.
Detectives asked Love if he was staying at the hotel. Love said no, but did sleep in the lobby overnight. Detectives asked him to leave.
After watching surveillance video of Love in the lobby, another detective recognized Love as a suspect in a criminal mischief case from the night before.
Love returned to the hotel, and that’s when officers learned he had a felony warrant for aggravated domestic violence in Denver and took him into custody for that warrant.
Love's interview with DPD was heavily redacted in the affidavit, so it's unclear how detectives connected him to the incident.
Norwood sustained a possible sharp-force injury to his neck and possibly his stomach, according to the affidavit.
A knife was found in the kitchen area and a pair of socks were found in the microwave.
As of July 17, 2023, Love is still being held at the Denver Detention Center, despite his acquittal. He is facing several other charges unrelated to the homicide case.
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